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Dina Speaks Out: "Lindsay Is So Happy"

Ever since Lindsay Lohan voluntarily entered herself into the Betty Ford Center on Sept. 28, the public’s focus has veered toward her headline-grabbing father Michael, and his various outbursts and accusations directed largely at his ex-wife Dina and Lindsay’s legal and PR team. But in an exclusive interview with TooFab Thursday, Dina put the focus back on what she considers is most important: Lindsay’s health and well-being.

“Lindsay is so happy, and I’m so proud of her,” Dina tells TooFab. “They’re wonderful at Betty Ford, it’s a really good place, it’s just amazing. She could walk out tomorrow if she wanted, but she doesn’t want to. We have a great doctor, and great people helping her. It’s a great facility. It’s not one of those ‘happy Hollywood’ places. She didn’t have to go there. She could have opted for a less serious place, but we knew that she had to go to this place, because they take [addiction issues] so seriously.”

Dina’s currently back home on the East Coast, but will head to Betty Ford this weekend for the facility’s family week. “I can’t wait,” she says.

Dina says that the media’s negative coverage of her daughter--which she claims is fueled by her ex-husband and his off-again-on-again girlfriend, former Star magazine reporter Kate Major’s “smear campaign”—isn’t helping Lindsay’s recovery, adding that she tries to keep Lindsay in the dark about a lot of the coverage. “When someone’s in [rehab], you don’t want to upset them. She’s getting help. She knows a little bit of what’s out there.”

As for a report that Lindsay “was nabbed trying to flee” the facility, Dina laughed saying, “She didn’t try to escape to get a Coca-Cola. First off, there’s no fence to hop over, you can just walk out, and she has a soda machine across the hall if she wants a can of soda!”

She says that Lindsay plans to remain at Betty Ford and finish the 30-day program. “She’s completing the program. She’ll be out around Oct. 28. She also may continue with their outpatient services, since Betty Ford has the best outcare facility.”

Dina says she’s afraid that Michael’s outlandish behavior won’t bode well for Lindsay’s recovery when she leaves Betty Ford. “I’m just scared that when she comes out she’ll have to deal with this crazy person.” Among the claims Michael has made is that Dina has tried to get conservatorship over Lindsay. Dina’s response? “It’s an absolute 1,000 percent lie! To get conservatorship, you have to be mentally insane. My child is not insane. He’s the one who was saying he wants conservatorship. He’s projecting. He doesn’t stop, He’s relentless. I’m a good mom, and my kids work hard.”

Dina also laughed off a report—which she believes was planted by her ex—that she’s shopping around a reality show about Lindsay’s rehab stint: “I am not doing a reality show about her rehab. He can’t handle that he can’t visit her, so he’s saying this stuff. He’s the one who wanted to do a reality show. Everything’s a projection with him. He needs to stop. He wants to destroy Lindsay’s career and make me broke. He’s already threatened [Lindsay’s lawyers] Shawn Chapman Holley and Stephanie Ovadia, and [manager] Lou Taylor. He’s dangerous. He’s crazy. He wants my attention. He’s planting stories and saying these things so that the judge will see them in the tabloids and make judgments. It’s a smear campaign, and we need help. He’s calculating.”

As for involving Michael in Lindsay’s treatment, she says he continually disappoints. “It’s always like here we go, Michael Lohan is starting in again, because he’s not allowed to visit her. We gave him a chance before, but then he sold those tapes [of phone conversations with Dina]. We just can’t let this guy in there.”